The apprenticeship system and how it builds capacity in a developing economy
- 16 September 2024
- Posted by: Trudi Stevens
- Category: energy excellence
The apprenticeship system creates a workforce to support the growth of the economy of a nation. Its goal is to build the capacity of the engines of economic growth – education and industrialisation.
The Apprenticeship system
An Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation to work within a trade or a profession. Apprenticeships are found in every sector, from agriculture and hospitality to engineering and accountancy. The basic model has the Apprentice working for an employer who helps the Apprentice learn skills and gain experience in exchange for benefits. The Apprentice also learns theory and academic knowledge outside the workplace.
It is an ancient system that is an important part of vocational education in industrialised countries and has been key in the development of their economies through history. There are several different models and the best known and one of the most effective is the German model. This has about 1.5 million people doing Apprenticeships, with about 500 000 people joining the Apprenticeship system every year across 340 programmes. These Apprenticeships last between 1 to 3 years.
The elements that make up the system are:
- the Vocational Schools: where the apprentice spends the first year learning work based theory and applications. There is no Shakespeare!
- the workplace: the employers volunteer; they provide training and experience and accept the rules and regulations of the Apprenticeship Framework; they are key to transferring knowledge and developing employability skills.
- the Chambers of Commerce: they are responsible for advising companies, implementing and supervising training, decide what skills and knowledge will be contained within qualifications and create occupational profiles – each profile has its own apprenticeship
- the Trade Unions: monitor the welfare of the apprentices and work with employers to ensure quality training is maintained
- the Government: creates the environment for this to happen.
Factors that lead to the German success
- outstanding cooperation and communication between employers, Chambers of Commerce and the Vocational Schools
- little Government interference except to provide enabling policies through taxation and finance
- no direct control or input by the Department of Education except through their TVET policy at primary and secondary level of schooling. However, the department may well provide funding for facilitative bodies and can influence curriculum, in partnership with employer groups.
The problems with the apprenticeship system that are seen in other countries are as a result of not applying these 3 principles.
These principles and this system can be applied to any economy and could be the key for development in a nation that:
- has a large youthful population
- has significant natural resources that are being extracted mostly through international companies
- has an education system that needs development
- a government that is open to collaboration between government departments
- a government that has the vision to recognise that building an ecosystem is very effective in leveraging business and industry assets in capacity building
Building capacity in the Chambers of Commerce and Vocational Schools
Where the business environment and vocational education system is still developing, establishing a successful apprenticeship system can accelerate the building of capacity in these areas. Conversations, building relationships, deeper understanding of issues and aspirations create mutual support, collaboration and trust.
Combining experience with young minds creates innovative practice and agile thinking. Businesses and organisations find common purpose and cohesion which is the foundation of strong Chambers of Commerce. Links made with commerce and industry strengthens knowledge and skills of vocational tutors and provides opportunities to make their programmes relevant, improving the employability of their students.
A good example of a successful apprenticeship programmes can be found in Trinidad and Tobago where, this year, more than 100 young Trinbagonians are being trained under the Manufacturing Apprenticeship Programme. They will spend 3 years on a programme created in partnership with the MIC Institute of Technology, the Ministry of Trade, the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association and the Ministry of Youth Development and National service.
How apprenticeships fit into a national education system
The aim is to create a workforce across every sector that has the skills, knowledge and the ability to learn, to innovate and to problem solve. Those abilities are developed from the moment a child enters primary school and are built on throughout their schooling. We need to remember that the children who are starting school this year will be working in a completely different world to the one we work in at the moment. They will be working and interacting with robots, they will use artificial intelligence-created information as we use Google. They will wear devices, sometimes inside their bodies, linked to computers, that will track their health and movements. They will work with colleagues on the other side of the world, every day. This will be true whether they are tailors, taxi drivers or engineers.
Primary schooling will still teach maths, languages and science. However, they will teach this to understand nutrition and food production, how to recognise when someone is lying to you online, how to understand and protect their environment. Secondary school will be the space where students create their own projects, their own solutions, explore and develop their own business ideas.
As a part of the ‘local content’ provision, companies (both international and local) can provide information, data and case studies for students to analyse, guest speakers and work placements.
Vocational institutions will be where students can focus on sectors that meet their aspirations and abilities. Companies are particularly important for providing ‘shadowing’ opportunities for lecturers to update and maintain their vocational competencies. They can provide real world problems and work with student teams to solve them.
The apprenticeship ecosystem
The ecosystem is where companies (both international and local), the education system, business and capacity building meet. It is a system of many moving parts which need to be aligned to each other’s needs and priorities. As the German model shows, it is feasible and when it works, it is transformational.
The diagram below represents the relationships that are created and nurtured and it demonstrates how each element interacts with the others.
This approach puts capacity building at the heart and centre of Local Content, framing it as an enabler of national workforce development and a driver of economic development.
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